The challenge of the Norwegian mountaineer, accompanied by her Nepalese guide, was scrutinized by the entire Himalayan community. Kristin Harila and Tenjin Sherpa became this Thursday, July 27 the mountaineers who climbed the 14 peaks of more than 8000 meters on the planet the fastest by reaching the top of K2, in Pakistan.
The duo scaled those 14 peaks in three months and one day (92 days), according to a statement from their team. The previous record was held by Nepalo-British Nirmal Purja who completed all fourteen climbs in just 6 months and 6 days. The sherpa had made a very successful film out of it, with a lot of communication. He had erased the distant performance of Polish mountaineer Jerzy Kukuczka who had completed the challenge in 7 years, 11 months and 14 days in the 1980s.
This record reflects “their steely determination, teamwork and sheer tenacity during this entire monumental undertaking,” their team said in the release. “The collaboration between Harila and Lama (Tenjin Sherpa’s nickname) showcased the essence of unity in mountaineering, transcending borders and cultures to achieve excellence together,” she added. .
About forty men and only a few women have reached the 14 peaks culminating above 8000 meters. The Italian Reinhold Messner, legend of the mountaineer who notably reached the first summit of Everest without oxygen, achieved for the first time the feat of climbing the fourteen highest peaks on the planet in 1986.
After starting with the ascent of Shishapangma on April 26, the Norwegian and the Nepalese have reached the end of their undertaking at K2, the second highest peak in the world culminating at 8611 m in the Karakoram massif. This peak is considered one of the most difficult and technical 8000. It was first climbed in 1954 by an Italian team, a year after the first successful ascent of Everest.
Last year, Harila had already tried to break the speed record of 14 “8000”, but his project had been thwarted by the strict fight of China against the Covid-19, which only issues permits for ascent. sparingly. After climbing the first 12 peaks in record time, she hadn’t obtained the necessary permits to climb Shishapangma, which is entirely in Tibet, and Cho Oyu, which mountaineers attack from the Chinese side.
She relaunched her project this year, called “She Moves Mountains”, with a new team of Nepalese guides. The great climbers are mostly men. However, a few women have distinguished themselves and rise to the top in this discipline, etching their name in the history of mountaineering. “I hope this project will be a source of inspiration and make things easier for the girls who will succeed me,” Harila told AFP in May.
According to her, few women find themselves in the spotlight and manage to arouse the interest of the sponsors today, necessary to finance their expeditions. During her first attempt, despite her prowess, the Norwegian had so much trouble finding sponsors that she found herself forced to sell her apartment to finance her ascents. “This project would be much easier to carry out if I were a man,” she assured in the same interview with AFP. “It’s purely and simply different to be a woman in the world, and not only in the eyes of the sponsors.” At the beginning of July, it was the Frenchwoman Sophie Lavaud who distinguished herself by managing to climb the 14 peaks over 8000m.
The ascent of peaks over 8000 meters requires essential time for the body to acclimatize to the altitude, and above all, favorable meteorological windows which make it difficult to plan fourteen ascents in a row. To overcome these constraints, mountaineers in search of these speed records make extensive use of oxygen and helicopter travel, practices criticized by purists who oppose the alpine style, requiring complete autonomy and lightness.